1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spherical display and control device.
This invention in preferred embodiments relates to a collapsible spherical display and control device suitable for 3D mouse control as a computer input device and used as an interactive display for virtual space navigation, alerts and complex information selection or used as a portable interactive spherical display for data, remote application control, interactive games or ornamental purposes.
2) Background of the Invention
The increased complexity of computing and data representation is leading to new forms of data visualization where information can be displayed in 3D, virtual or interactive spaces. Similarly web-navigation systems are emerging where sites and landscapes are displayed as a virtual 3D environment or superimposed onto a real world view. Furthermore desk-top environments are also examining 3D vector-graphic representations (traditionally used in gaming), as a mechanism to help users navigate the increasing amounts of data and applications available, with one approach providing an overall navigation screen that shows all applications/windows that are in-use to help rapid comprehension and selection, however, this has yet to be implemented in a standalone screen or combined directly into a better control device.
Past devices and research on user experience has generally focused on 3D computer input devices used in graphic/engineering design and in gaming, mostly relying on ‘Joystick’ type devices where a stick or ball is attached to a base. Such devices can be awkward to use at first for 3D navigation, as they are generally used for measuring pressure or displacement change rather than giving feedback cues on current position/context. Alternative approaches have included using physical user position via ‘Virtual-reality’ gloves or sensors on the body, however, evidence has suggested that users have a reluctance for large scale motion (such as moving an arm or waving) in practical applications. There is therefore a growing need for new forms of 3D input devices that are more easy to use by consumers and provide better visual cues and context to help 3D control and navigation.
A further development is the convergence across a range of computing devices from desktop/workstations, to home TV/game entertainment systems, portable computers, Personal digital assistants and mobile phones. With the rapid miniaturization of the underlying technology many of these devices converge, with the remaining consumer values being device usability, form factor and the portability of input and output devices. Consumers will increasingly prefer input devices to be personal and portable and usable in a wider context, particularly in an office environment, to say be able to select a nearby workstation/conference room screen/device and ‘take over’ and personalize it to their standard environments, as well as an ability to use a device in a stand-alone private mode or to provide overall context information or information alerts. As with folding keyboards, phones and laptops there is an increased need for such display and control devices to be collapsible from one deployed form to a more compact form and to be easily usable in either a hand or on a surface.
There is substantial prior art relating to 2D input devices and some recent examples of 3D computer input devices. These are generally used as computer peripherals with a workstation, either connected via fixed wire or wireless to the workstation and either mounted directly onto the computing device rather than be usable as a separate generic accessory. The majority of 3D input devices rely on being physically attached to a base unit (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,828 by Armstrong which also discloses tactile vibration feedback), using a mechanism like a Joy-stick, or tilt or track ball, or by part enclosing a movable sphere against sprung sensor bearings (as in a normal 2D mouse). Further examples include U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,870 by Bidiville, U.S. Pat. No. 6,707,443 by Bruneau, U.S. Pat. No. 6,727,889 by Shaw). Recent 3D sensor approaches (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,731,268, U.S. Pat. No. 6,466,200 by Anton et al) disclose using specific implementations of acceleration gyroscopes to enable a device to be moved in physical space to provide 3D movement data. Similar examples are emerging for portable devices such as mobile phones to be used as ‘magic wands’ or with thumb pads and sensor bars (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,731,267 by Tuoriniemi, U.S. Pat. No. 6,724,366 by Crawford, U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,355 by Neuman), or as selector devices to measure physical movement of gestures. Few examples have been found where touch-sensitive layers (such as resistive or capacitance) have been deployed on specific devices with non-flat cylindrical of spherical surfaces other than traditional glove haptic sensors, which generally detect pressure/stretching of a material using a piezoelectric mechanism.
The prior art relating to 3D spherical projection systems and displays generally relates to different mechanisms of forming large-scale projection systems such as might be used for entertainment or gaming/training systems (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,506 by Ritchey) or smaller scale display globes. Frequently these describe programmable devices for digital globes for displaying geographic data (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,100 by Hilderman with a plurality of optical fibres to spherical surface, U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,809 by Husseiny et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,725 by McCutchen, which discloses an internal decahedron arrangement of projection surfaces, U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,555 by Storm which discloses the general concept of a programmable globe based on a plurality of displays, arranged as malleable or cubic displays). However, none of the prior art examined relates to spherical displays used as control devices or any that are designed to be portable or collapsible and used as an accessory computer input device rather than output projection display.
Few examples of prior art covering collapsible spheres have been found, other than general art on inflatable balls. Of note is U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,994 by Stalberger 1979, which describes the typical ‘dog-bone’ or ‘generally figure-eight’ shaped ellipsoid flexible surfaces that are sewn together to form a typical ball, as would be found in a baseball or tennis ball (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 1,960,803, by Baumer 1930). Examples of collapsible electronic devices have been demonstrated for instances of portable phone devices, flat screen devices, and collapsible keyboards in general (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,174,097 by Daniel).
None of the prior art examined address the considerable user and control benefits for a control device having visual cues and feedback via a display surface to support overall 3 dimensional navigation and 3D axis control, nor the benefits of having a dynamic interactive touch sensitive spherical display surface, nor the complex mechanics and holistic design required to make such a device portable and collapsible in a preferred embodiment between convenient configurations.
To the best of the applicant's knowledge, the prior art, whilst suggesting some features and numerous variations of input devices or spherical displays in general, the prior art has not disclosed some of the highly advantageous features of the present invention discussed herein.